Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey

When I started trying to write my first blog post for this class, the first topic that popped into my head was the way Dan Harmon, creator of Community and Rick and Morty and one of my favorite creative talents, structures the stories he writes. Harmon, whether he's writing a half-hour episode of a sitcom, a feature film, or a three-minute comedy sketch, utilizes "story circles," which he says allow him to tie narrative and character development directly together. Unfortunately, as I searched for visual aid to illustrate my blog post, I discovered that a past CP2 student had already covered the topic (Kyle Vorbach's excellent post can be found here: http://filmword.blogspot.com/2013/02/dan-harmons-story-circles.html). I decided to delve into the origin of Harmon's story circles, which can easily be traced back to the writings of Joseph Campbell and his theory of the monomyth.

Joseph Campbell was an American author and educator who specialized in examining mythology and religion for similarities across cultures. His life's work as an author came together in the form of his most lasting theory, that of a monomyth. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), Campbell argued that the structure of the hero's journey remained consistent throughout cultures, with only surface changes made to create the heroes that define a culture's mythology. Campbell was heavily influenced by Carl Jung, one of the most prominent psychologists of the 20th century, who developed a theory of collective unconsciousness. Jung's assertion that all of humankind shares certain archetypes heavily influenced Campbell's analysis of both mythological stories and more modern pieces of fiction. Harmon's story circles draw their cyclical structure and many of the narrative steps from Campbell's theory of the Hero's Journey:

Campbell's structure, however, goes into more detail than Harmon's. However, it should be noted that Harmon often cites steps such as the Crossing of the Threshold when talking about his writing. Campbell's basic steps on the Hero's Journey are as follows, broken roughly into three-act structure:

1. The Ordinary World

2. The Call to Adventure

3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing of the Threshold 

End of Act 1

6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies

7. Approach

8. The Ordeal
9. The Reward
End of Act 2

10. The Road Back
11. The Resurrection
12. Return with the Reward
End of Act 3

The division by act structure can be debated, and different sources often re-name the specific steps, but the basic structure of the Hero's Journey stays constant over much of fiction, regardless of genre or artistic medium. Campbell's theory originally was formulated as a way to discuss mythological texts like The Odyssey and Gilgamesh, but has come to influence some of the most prominent novels and films of the 21st century. Want an example?

George Lucas and Mark Hamill on the set of Star Wars

George Lucas was one of the first filmmakers to take Campbell's theory and develop a feature film around it. It was Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces that helped Lucas flesh out his basic ideas for his first big-budget film. Star Wars and the entire original trilogy owe their structure and storytelling beats to Joseph Campbell. Dan Harmon has since taken the same basic structure and applied it to over 90 episodes of Community, in addition to using the structure for projects such as Rick and Morty and Monster House. Studying Campbell's monomyth can help young storytellers master the basics of character development, pacing, and plot structure, regardless of medium.

My source for Campbell's steps was this website: http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm . If you're interested in Dan Harmon's story circles and would like to know more, I'd recommend checking out his tutorials on the Channel 101 wiki: http://channel101.wikia.com/wiki/Story_Structure_101:_Super_Basic_Shit.

The Fun Left in Hollywood

Hollywood has always been known as the cutthroat heart to the American film industry, usually filled with professionals and never much room for laughter. And all of this is totally acceptable when many budgets cross over a hundred million dollars and studios are looking for the biggest bang for their buck. But it was the seventies and the rise of the American auteur that gave Hollywood some of the most iconic films and at the same time showed that directing is really just about the inner child's imagination. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg both created so many films that will be ingrained into film history for the rest of time. And as they dominated the seventies box office looking back it almost seems as if they were playing a game with each other.

In the late seventies George Lucas was nervous about his new release Star Wars. So when he turned to his friend Steven Spielberg and saw that he was was working on Close Encounters of the Third Kind it just made him feel worse. Lucas believed that Spielberg was creating "the biggest hit of all time" and that Star Wars would fail miserably. So as a small bet at the time Lucas bet 2.5% of Star Wars in exchange for 2.5% of Close Encounters. What was a small bet at the time turned into a forty million dollar investment for Spielberg. But even that wasn't the end to their game.

For the next decade the two would play box office ping pong and when it came to video rentals the two would send letters to each other publicly about the others success. 

The two showed that what they were doing was something that was fun no matter how serious it was, and that through the millions of dollars it wasn't about money. 

For a long time in Hollywood I feel like we have lost that. The sense of fun behind the movie making and that no matter what, film should be about making something that you feel should be made and having fun with it. But hope is not lost! There has been a new resergence in the industry and in a way it comes from the same franchise, Star Wars. 

J.J. Abrams is deep into production on the new trilogy and is bringing the same atitude as Lucas once did. Meanwhile on the other spectrum Zack Snyder is working on Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and between the two films they are both approaching the situation just as the original duo did. With a twenty first century twist the two have been crossing their respective franchises in a way to respect the massive amount of pressures they both hold. It's the fun that Hollywood was missing and I hope it continues to stay. 

                                     
These images have been sent back and forth to each director. And the video below is the most recent gag from J. J. Abrams.

Here's to hoping the fun is still alive. 

How Much Special Effects is Too Much?

We are in an odd time for film where many films are created with the use of so much green screen and special affects that it's become frieghtning to some filmmakers. Directors like Quentin Tarantino will one day leave the industry because of the increase in special affects and the decreasing use of film in the medium. Some say it is the death of cinema and to a degree I would agree. Cinema as we knew it is dead, but it is not gone.

With superheroes soaring over the box office it's no surprise why cgi and special affects are dominant in the industry today. But the question is can there be too much of it? Well lets look at a some examples. If you compare the Star Wars prequels to the original trilogy it is easy to see that the more recent films use a ton of cgi and special affects. And because of that so many fans of the series will immediatley credit that to why the prequels are abysmal compared to the original trilogy. The way I see it is the reason those films are not as great is because of a lot of other issues that could be discussed for hours on end. But in short that is not even close to why those films are not amazing. I'm not saying that there can be bad cgi and special effects. Oh no there can be really bad special affects that can ruin a whole movie (I'm looking at you The Mummy Returns) but as time progresses the use of cgi only helps the film industry.

Stories, stories and more stories. I said it now and I will say it again, with more ways and deviations to creating a film the more different stories can be told. Look at Gravity and ask yourself if that movie could have been created ten years ago. Or Life of Pi? Both of these films used so much cgi and special effects that it becomes hard to know what's real and what isn't. Without special effects both of these films would not exist. It's all about how you go about using them really. Look at The Guardians of the Galaxy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and their use of special effects. It may sound dumb but both of these films made me cry. And the even worse part is that it wasn't the human actors that made me cry, it was a talking tree, a talking raccoon and a talking monkey (this is just as hard for me to type as it is for you to read). The use of motion capture has advanced so far that these creations have become believable and at times really something special. So at this moment in time it's not about how much special affects you want to use but how you go about using it. Write a good story, with great characters, make a film beautiful, and then you can add as much special affects as your little heart desires.

Labyrinth: Not Just For Children

If I could sum up my childhood with one movie, it would be Labyrinth. Every chance I got, I was watching that movie, and still to this day, it is one of my favorites. It explores a fantastical world of goblins and magic, all created by the power team of director Jim Henson and producer George Lucas. This movie also has a dream cast of Jennifer Connelly and the infamous David Bowie. If you are not familiar with the movie, it is about a young girl names Sarah who dreams of a world where she does not have the responsibility of her annoying baby brother and she is the ruler of her own world. When she wishes upon the Goblin king to come take her brother, she finds that she gets more than she bargained for. Jareth, played by David Bowie, swoops in to capture the child, and says that the only way for Sarah to get her brother Toby back is to find her way to his castle hidden somewhere within a magical labyrinth. On her journey, Sarah meets an eclectic cast of characters, all of which are puppets created by Henson himself.

The beauty of this movie truly comes from the set, costumes, and puppets. The viewer is transported to a magical land that is both fascinating and a bit frightening, especially to a young child. There is a dream sequence in this movie that I believe is beyond beautiful. It involves Sarah at a masquerade party and Bowie singing as she gets lost in the crowd of beautiful costumes and strange masks.

Of course the scene is very 80’s, (1986 to be exact) but who doesn’t love a romantic 80’s scene now and then.

Labyrinth is a movie that I will watch over and over again. I would recommend it to everyone, if not for the story, at least for the creative characters from the mind of the brilliant Jim Henson. And if you are still not into any of those things, at least you can be mesmerized by the voice of musical icon David Bowie.

Disney Takes on Star Wars

After having a Star Wars marathon today, I began become excited for the next trilogy that will be brought to us by Disney. But then is thought, "Should I really be excited?"

The original trilogy is highly respected and beloved by sci-fi fans the world around. And the second, while still an important part of the Star Wars saga, is mostly ridiculed and condemned by fans and critics. So will the next chapter of Star Wars continue down the same slippery slope to film infamy? Will it shortly end up in the $5 dollar movie bin at Wal-Mart with all of the rest of the ambitious but failed movies? That's what I'm dying to find out.

The first trilogy was wildly successful because of its special effects and narrative that was literally out of this world. (Spoiler)

At a time when we were just exploring space travel and recently landed on the moon, people's imaginations were running wild and these movies captivated audiences. The lasers and lightsabers were every boys dream and a Jedi was what they aspired to be.

As the original Star Wars generation reached adulthood and began having children a new trilogy was released. This, a prequel, followed young Vader (Anakin Skywalker) and his journey to the dark side. These movies were released after the internet boom when technology was advancing exponentially. These movies were seemingly targeting a younger, new crowd instead of the older longtime fans. There is a general consensus that these movies were now where near as good as the originals. Many people, myself included don't even bother watching them when doing a marathon. Whether its the actors, the sfx's, the story or the overall feel of the movies, "true fans" grimace at the mention of them.

Then that leaves Disney, the new trilogy and Episode 7. J.J. Abrams who is an award winning producer, writer and director believes he is the man for the job. He has has a lot of success with the new Star Trek movies and wants to continue that with Star Wars. In my humble opinion I'm not sure thats what he'll find. The problem: Disney. Disney has a way of taking something great and making it something else. Maybe not necessarily bad, but just not what it was. Disney's demographic is more of an adolescent one and their movies are too 'shiny' and too fairytale looking for this type of film. I think to find success, a company with experience in more gritty and adult looking movies would need to take the reigns. If the movies and stories become too childish then I believe they will ultimately fail. With that said, if J.J. Abrams and keep creative control and pay close attention to the writing and casting, the saga may still have a breath of life.

The Wilhelm Scream

Like many of us in this class I am a huge movie buff. I enjoy watching movies almost to a fault, and one thing that I am very good at is remembering lines and scenes. Mainly because I watch films again and again. This is why I wanted to clue some of you in on arguably the most famous sound effect in movie history. The Wilhelm Scream. This sound effect is a stock sound effect that has been used in over 200 films, usually to represent someone dying. Whether you've noticed it before or not, you have undoubtably heard it if you have seen films like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Saving Private Ryan, and even animated films like Toy Story and Hercules.

The sound effect is credited as first being used in the 1953 films The Charge at Feather River, it gets it's name from the character, Wilhelm, who gets shot by an arrow. Since then it has become sort of a running gag among some movie directors. Most notably George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino, and Peter Jackson, who pretty much use it in every film.

The thing that I find so funny about it is that the director's are making a conscious choice to include this sound effect in their film. I originally thought it might just be a coincidence, but the sound effect is used in too many movies for nobody to know. Christ it has it's own Wikipedia post  for it.

However if you still don't believe me, here are two videos dedicated solely to the use of the Wilhelm scream.

... And the other one.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Labyrinth

Being at home for fall break has put me in a nostalgic mood so I thought I'd write about Labyrinth. It was a favorite of mine when I was little and apparently it was the first non-animated film that I had watched as a child.

Labyrinth is a coming of age story about a girl, Sarah, played by Jennifer Connelly, who wishes for her baby brother, Toby, to disappear. Jareth, the Goblin King, played by none other than my favorite artist: David Bowie, grants Sarah's wish by kidnapping the baby and taking him to the Goblin City. Once Toby is actually gone, Sarah realizes her mistake and wishes to have her brother back. However, in order to bring her brother home, she has to make her way through the Labyrinth and surpass all of the plots and schemes devised by the persuasive Goblin King who tries to distract her from her objective. Jareth does this by offering her a crystal ball which would show her her dreams, sending Hoggle to misguide her through the Labyrinth, making her solve logic puzzles, changing the Labyrinth's orientation, and trying to seduce her during a masquerade ball.
While on her quest, Sarah realizes very quickly that things are not always what they seem and advances through the Labyrinth until she storms the Goblin City with the help of her friends Hoggle, Ludo, and Sir Didymus. At the end of the movie, Sarah must face Jareth herself and decide whether to return home with her baby brother or stay with the Goblin King who offers to give her everything she's ever dreamt of.
One of my favorite scenes of the movie is the scene leading up to the finale where Sarah is trying to retrieve her brother from a room that was closely based off a lithograph by M.C. Escher called 'Relativity,' shown below.

In this scene the set design, special effects, and camera angles completely disorient the viewer, which helps to show Jareth's wavering hold on Sarah and her persistent determination and frustration with wanting to retrieve her brother and finally return home.

Although Labyrinth only made about thirteen million in the box office from the U.S. theatrical release, it has become a cult classic that has been adored for decades. With Jim Henson as the director and the person who was responsible for the incredible puppeteering, George Lucas as the producer, Terry Jones, from Monty Python, as the head writer, and David Bowie as a lead actor, it is unfortunate that it did not have more success in the box office.
Labyrinth is a cute movie and I would recommend it if you like The Dark Crystal or Princess Bride.

Star Wars

I am a huge star wars fan.  I love 4, 5, and 6 and own them on DVD and while I don't hate 1, 2, and 3 like many star wars fans, I find them entertaining, but I cannot accept them as real star wars movies.  I was introduced to star wars at a young age and never looked back.  I think what makes star wars so amazing is because it changed the sci-fi genre and what was possible from movies.  Star wars was first released in 1977, the same year as encounters of the third kind, and it looks amazing.  For 1977 the effects look amazing and the universe is very creative.

Watching star wars for the first time is like nothing else, you are transported into another world field with new and amazing technology and the most wonderfully strange creatures.  The characters are great  and each movie is a thrill.  Watching Luke Skywalker transform from a farmer's son to a Jedi is fantastic.  While 1, 2, and 3 are as good they are very fun to watch and the fight scene between Anakin and Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most epic fight scenes ever.  If you haven't seen star wars that is sad and you should watch it right now.

Epic fight scene: